Resource Library

COVID-19 Update: The John T. Gorman Foundation is curating a list of resources, emerging best practices, and innovative ideas from across the country to help local organizations serve vulnerable Mainers during the coronavirus outbreak. To access those resources, visit www.jtgfoundation.org/resources/covid-19 or enter Covid-19 in the keyword search. Those results can be further focused by using the “Filter by” menu above to filter by population type (Young Children, Older Youth, Families, and Seniors) or by clicking the following links: childcare, education, food security, housing, rural areas, and workforce.

The John T. Gorman Foundation strives to be data-driven and results based and seeks to promote information and ideas that advance greater understanding of issues related to our mission and priorities. In our effort to promote these values, we offer these research and best practice resources collected from reputable sources across the country. The library also includes briefs and reports the Foundation has commissioned or supported, a listing of which can be found here.

The Center for Law and Social Policy has created a guide for child care stakeholders navigating unemployment compensation during the pandemic. The guide explains new pandemic unemployment insurance (UI) programs that provide compensation for many child care workers who previously did not qualify for benefits, such as those who are self-employed or work part-time. The document also covers the limitations and challenges of accessing unemployment programs. Recommendations for federal and state policy actions are also included, such as expanding UI eligibility, increasing maximum duration and amount of benefits, and clarifying the process for home-based providers. #covid-19 #workforce #childcare

Representative Katherine Clark (D-Mass) and other House Democrats are seeking a $100 billion child care package to both support the sector during the pandemic and also invest in a robust, long-term future. $50 billion would be allocated towards keeping child care providers and their employees afloat during the pandemic, while the other $50 billion would invest in additional infrastructure, increase funding for training and education, and increasing wages of child care workers. #covid-19 #childcare

The Center for Law and Social Policy developed a factsheet summarizing how a federal appropriation of $50 billion to the child care industry could be distributed to each state. This figure of $50 billion in federal aid is from previous analysis that found that the child care system needs at least $9.6 billion each month during the pandemic. The estimates in the factsheet are based on a system of distributing these funds through the Child Care and Development Block Grant state allocation formula. The estimated state allocation for Maine would be $157,235,851 (see factsheet for all state estimates). #covid-19 #childcare

A new article from Spotlight on Poverty summarizes the challenges that child care providers face in remaining open to serve other essential workers. Specifically, the low-paid workforce, who often lack health insurance, are caught between needing a paycheck and fear of infection. At least one state—North Carolina—is paying childcare workers a $300 bonus (less for non-teachers and part-time staff) to remain open, but providers in several states note that even if staff choose to work, a lack of cleaning supplies prevents providers from sanitizing effectively. Finally, closures and reduced operating capacities (including the patchwork of emergency systems in response to the pandemic across states) are producing funding gaps so large that many providers may be unable to recover. #covid-19 #childcare

To help inform policy decisions that could help working parents affected by COVID-19, Rand examined the U.S. DOL's Current Population Survey (CPS) as well as the 2020 “CARES Act” and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The CPS data gave the Rand Corporation insight into what the childcare landscape looks like and the challenges faced by parents. #covid-19 #childcare

This report offers basic principles for supporting child care and early education through the coronavirus pandemic. The Author posits that Federal and state governments must invest significant resources to shore up the child care industry in bid to stabilize families who depend on child care and child care workers. #covid-19 #childcare #education

Child care providers are closed to all but essential workers in 16 states, and closed altogether in Rhode Island, although providers in many more states have chosen to close voluntarily. States are addressing resulting shortages in a host of ways, including by granting emergency exceptions to closures, offering emergency child care licenses, or loosening licensing regulations (see, for example, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine). However, the National Association for the Education of Young Children has emphasized the importance of funneling resources to existing child care providers instead of new programs, to ensure program sustainability and ensure children are cared for by experienced early childhood experts. #COVID-19 #childcare

For child care and early education providers, the federal government and many states already have plans developed in the aftermath of natural disasters in the past decade that outline best practices. #covid-19 #childcare #education